The Christianisation of China: Better educated Chinese are embracing Christianity

It was during the 1980s, that the Christian population in People’s Republic of China was 10 million. By 2007, the number of Christians in China mounted to an overwhelming 60 million. This massive increase depicted an annual growth rate of 7 percent.

Moreover, it is believed that just last year, as per an estimate some 100 million Chinese citizens are followers of Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings and are professing Christians.

The basics behind the rapid growth of Christianity in a communist country that officially does not subscribe to any religion have been laid down by two academics, Rodney Stark and Xiuhua Wang. In their book “A Star in the East: The Rise of Christianity in China,” which was published earlier this year, they simplify that “progressively educated Chinese are becoming Christians to find the true meaning of life in modern times.”

Rodney Stark, who is a sociologist, is of the view that many Chinese citizens, above all those who are better educated are currently experiencing “cultural incongruity” between traditional Chinese culture and industrial-technological modernity.

This phenomenon is leading masses to “spiritual deprivation,” which is certainly best countered by Christianity. “The question of what does the world mean, and how do we live in it, persists and so that’s a major motor in the Christianisation of China, and it explains why it’s the most educated Chinese who are the most apt to join,” he said.

Stark maintained that according to most Chinese academics contemporary and traditional Eastern religions “don’t fit the modern world they’re engaged in” and are “anti-progress.” But Christianity is quite the opposite, as it aptly fits in thoroughly with modern scientific technology.